Self cleaning barbecue roasting hood

ABSTRACT

A roasting hood for a barbecue, the roasting hood being locatable over a cooking area of the barbecue, the roasting hood including an inner surface covered with a catalytic coating, wherein when the barbecue is in use with the roasting hood located thereon, at least the inner surface of the roasting hood is capable of being heated such that any food matter projected onto said inner surface area is at least substantially burnt off from the catalytic coating covering the inner surface of the roasting hood.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to outdoor cookingequipment, and in particular to roasting hoods for barbecues.

Many barbecue manufacturers now offer roasting hoods as an accessory forbarbecues, or offer barbecues incorporating integrated roasting hoods.These roasting hoods are typically made from either painted or vitreousenamelled mild steel sheet metal. Alternatively, roasting hoods can bemade from stainless steel sheet metal. The roasting hood is typicallyfabricated using sheet metal manufacturing processes. The roasting hoodsits over the top of the cooking area of the barbecue to provide aninternal cooking volume for the barbecue. The use of a roasting hoodadds to the overall versatility of the barbecue allowing it to cook agreater variety of foods using cooking methods including roasting,baking and smoking, as well as barbecuing.

A common problem associated with barbecues is the difficulty in cleaningthem after they have been used. The cooking process can result in anaccumulation of because of the accumulation of food splatter, grease,juices and oils as well as charcoal on the cooking surface and grillsand on different surfaces of the barbecue, and the barbecue generallydoes not reach a temperature high enough to remove such deposits byoxidation. Considerable effort is therefore required to clean thebarbecue after its use. Harsh cleaning chemicals or detergents andabrasive products such as steel wool are usually required to clean thebarbecue properly. The amount of cleaning required is compounded when aroasting hood is used because of the accumulation of food splatter,grease, juices and fat on the underside of the roasting hood during thecooking process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It would be advantageous to be able to avoid or at least minimize theneed to regularly clean the roasting hood of the barbecue.

To this end, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved roasting hood.

With this in mind, according to one aspect of the present invention,there is provided a roasting hood for a barbecue, the roasting hoodbeing locatable over a cooking area of the barbecue, the roasting hoodincluding an inner surface covered with a catalytic coating, such thatwhen the barbecue is in use with the roasting hood located thereon, atleast the inner surface of the roasting hood is capable of being heatedto a temperature sufficient that any food matter, such as splatter,grease, juices, fats and so on projected onto said inner surface are atleast substantially burnt off from the catalytic coating covering theinner surface of the roasting hood. This ensures that little to nocleaning of the inner surface of the roasting hood is required after useof the barbecue.

The catalytic coating may be formed by a first ground coat followed by asecond cover coat for providing the final catalytic coating. Each coatmay be sprayed or otherwise applied onto the inner surface of theroasting hood.

The first ground coating may be provided by porcelain enamel which maybe sprayed onto the cleaned steel inner surface of the roasting hood.This coating may then be fired, typically at about 830° C. An example ofa composition for the first ground coating would be a ceramic frit incombination with sodium silicate, boric acid, potassium hydroxide,pigment, potassium nitrate and water.

The second coating comprises a catalytic coating as is known in the artfor providing self-cleaning ovens. Typical compositions are disclosed,for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,161 and in published U.S.Application 2004/0253432, both of which are incorporated by reference. Asuitable catalytic continuous clean enamel is sold under the designationEMP6535 RTU powder by Ferro Corporation (Aust.) Pty. Limited ofMoorabbin, Vic., Australia.

The second cover coating may be provided by premixing a blend of frit,refractory powders, suspending agents and electrolytes, as are known inthe art for coating of enamels. This blend may be shear mixed with waterprior to being applied to the inner surface of the roasting hood. Thiscoating may then be dried and then fired to form the final catalyticcoating. The cover coating may typically be fired at about 820° C. Thecoating may provide a spotted or dimpled surface profile which acts toincrease the abrasion resistance of the coating by creating impactpoints against which particles of grease and the like can be broken upwhen projected against the catalytic coating during the cooking process.

The effectiveness of the catalytic coating at burning off foreign matterdeposited thereon improves at higher temperatures. To this end, theroasting hood may include an inner skin and an outer skin, with theinner skin providing the inner surface upon which the catalytic coatingis applied. An air gap or an insulating material may be provided betweenthe inner and outer skins of the roasting hood.

This two skin construction of the roasting hood allows for the innerskin to be heated at a significantly higher temperature then the outerskin. This facilitates the effectiveness of the catalytic coating inburning off the foreign matter accumulated thereon.

The twin skin construction also ensures that the outer skin remains at arelatively low temperature leading to improve safety in the use of thisroasting hood. It also facilitates the use of stainless steel on theouter skin, because excessive heating of the stainless steel can lead toits discoloration. These excessive temperatures are avoided by using thetwin skin construction for the roasting hoods.

Furthermore, the twin skin construction provides for an improved andrigid physical construction of the roasting hood.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided abarbecue including a roasting hood as described above.

The invention therefore provides a “self cleaning” effect for the innersurface of the roasting hood. Heating of the inner surface facilitatesthe burning off of foreign matter such as food splatter, grease, juicesand oils projected onto the catalytic coating during the cookingprocess. This burning off effect can be further facilitated by heatingto a higher temperature for a few minutes after the conclusion of thecooking process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to a particularlypreferred embodiment as shown in the drawing Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roasting hood of the invention;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are exploded views of the hood skirt; and

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are exploded views of the hood cover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in the Figures, the roasting hood is made up of two maincomponents, a hood skirt 1 which is dimensioned for placement andlocation around the periphery of the general cooking area of thebarbecue, and having two sides 2 and a rear panel 3. The secondcomponent of the routing hood is the hood cover 4 which is pivotallyconnected to the hood skirt 1 at pivot points 5. The hood cover has ashape suitable for occupying a first raised position while the barbecuecooking area remains generally open, and a second closed position. Inthe second or closed position, the hood is pivoted down and inconjunction with the hood skirt, serves to substantially close off andconfine the cooking area of the barbecue.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the hood skirt is made up of an outerskin 6 of generally unitary construction forming the rear panel andsides as one piece. The rear panel 3 of the outer skin includesplurality of vents 7 for assisting in the ventilation of the cookingarea of the barbecue. The outer skin 6 forms the structural component ofthe hood skirt to which are applied inner skin sections 8, 9 and 10. Theinner skin sections are applied to the outer skin as shown in FIGS. 2, 3and 4 such that an air gap 8 a, 91 and 10 a is provided between theinner and outer skins so as to allow air movement and provide atemperature insulating facility between the inside of the cooking areaand the outside of the roasting hood.

Referring now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the construction of the hood cover 4is shown where the hood cover has an analogous construction to that ofthe hood skirt comprising an outer skin 11 forming the body of the hoodand being made up of a rear panel 12 and two sides 13. To this structureare applied inner skin sections 14, 15 and 16, where an air gap isprovided between the inner and outer skins so as to facilitate atemperature insulation between the cooking area and the outside of thebarbecue.

The inner surfaces of the roasting hood as represented by the inner skinelements are provided with a catalytic coating with one particularlypreferred embodiment being the aforementioned product EMP6536 RTUcatalytic continuous clean enamel, a “ready-to-use,” premilled enamelfrit system that has been formulated for use as a covercoat applicationover a groundcoat, to give a catalytic continuous clean enamel surface.

The enamel coat is formulated as follows: EMP6536 RTU POWDER  100 partsby weight Urea  0.5 parts by weight Water   38 parts by weight

EMP6536 is a premilled RTU powder which does not require furthermilling. The powder should be mixed using a high speed stiller orsimilar and the resulting slip should be passed through a 100 mesh sieveafter mixng.

Wet spraying of the prepared covercoat slip is recommended over a firedmedium to hard groundcoat to give a covercoat fired thickness of 240-280micron.

The firing temperature is 820+/−10° C. The resulting w e N coating has agroundcoat thickness of 100-125 microns, and a catalytic covercoatthickness of 240-280 microns.

The catalytic coating applied to the inner skin sections of the roastinghood provides a self cleaning facility for the routing hood whereby thebarbecue can be heated to a high temperature so as to elevate thetemperature within the cooking area of the barbecue to a point wherefood cooking by products, soiling the interior and inner skin componentsof the roasting hood, can be Substantially burnt, and provide aself-cleaning facility of the type found in some modern electric ovens.

The catalytic coating may be applied as previously described or by anyother known methods and is most preferably applied so as to take theform of a roughly textured surface on the inner skin so as to facilitateself-cleaning and removal of food by product contamination.

The invention provides for the first time efficient and highly effectiveself-cleaning facilities in an outdoor cooking appliance of the barbecuetype.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerousvariations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown inthe specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive.

1. A roasting hood for a barbecue, the roasting hood being locatableover a cooking area of the barbecue, the roasting hood including aninner surface covered with a catalytic coating, wherein when thebarbecue is in use with the roasting hood located thereon, at least theinner surface of the roasting hood is capable of being heated such thatany food matter projected onto said inner surface is at leastsubstantially burned off from the catalytic coating covering the innersurface of the roasting hood.
 2. A roasting hood according to claim 1,wherein the roasting hood includes an inner skin and an outer skin, withthe inner skin providing the inner surface upon which the catalyticcoating is applied.
 3. A roasting hood according to claim 1, wherein thecatalytic coating includes a first ground coat and a second catalyticcover coat provided by a blend of frit, refractory powders, suspendedagents and electrolytes, said coating being fired to form the catalyticcoating.
 4. A roasting hood according to claim 3 wherein said catalyticcoating is provided as a spotted or textured surface profile.
 5. Aroasting hood according to claim 3, wherein the first ground coat isprovided by a fired porcelain enamel.
 6. A roasting hood for a barbecuecomprising a hood skirt locatable at a periphery of a cooking area, anda hood cover adapted to co-operate with the hood skirt so as to belocatable over said cooking area, both the hood skirt and hood coverincluding an inner surface covered with a catalytic coating, whereinwhen the barbecue is in use, at least the inner surfaces are capable ofbeing heated such that any food matter projected onto said innersurfaces is at least substantially burned off from the catalytic coatingcovering the inner surfaces of the hood skirt and hood cover.
 7. Aroasting hood according to claim 6, wherein the hood skirt and hoodcover include an inner skin and an outer skin, with the inner skinproviding the inner surface upon which the catalytic coating is applied.8. A roasting hood according to claim 7, wherein the catalytic coatingincludes an inner skin and an outer skin, with the inner skin providingthe inner surface upon which the catalytic coating is applied.
 9. Aroasting hood according to claim 8, wherein the catalytic coating isproduced as a spotted or textured surface profile.
 10. A roasting hoodaccording to claim 8, wherein the first ground coat is produced by afired porcelain enamel.
 11. A roasting hood according to claim 7,wherein the hood skirt includes air vents formed in said outer skin. 12.A barbecue including a roasting hood according to claim 1.